[Surgically correctable cerebrovascular insufficiency].

Obstructions along supra-aortic branches cause one third of all cases with clinically obvious cerebrovascular disease. 80% of these alterations (stenosis, occlusion) can successfully be operated on. This paper deals with some facts concerning normal and pathological physiology of cerebral blood-flow as well as with clinical signs and staging of cerebral insufficiency. It offers aspects of the modern way of diagnosis and surgical therapy in cerebrovascular disease, caused by extracranial localized arterial obstruction. In conclusion, the search for an occlusive process being obligatory for prevention of stroke in any case of syncope or transitory neurological deficit is emphasized.